


The Wrap Up

by completelyhopeless



Series: Detective Grayson and Forensic Batgirl [15]
Category: DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe, Case Fic, F/M, Gen, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-27
Updated: 2015-01-27
Packaged: 2018-03-09 08:47:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3243539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/completelyhopeless/pseuds/completelyhopeless
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce and Dick discuss the case after it's all over. It's familiar and awkward but wrapped up. Not all of the loose ends are tied neatly, but enough for life to go on, most of them for the better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Wrap Up

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shanachie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shanachie/gifts).



> So I had started writing the scene with Dick and Jason, and then I got stuck. So I said, "Okay, what needs to happen to wrap this story/case up?" And that got me a scene with Bruce and Dick talking about everything that happened.
> 
> I sent that scene off to Shanachie, who liked it as a wrap up, and I almost used it alone, but it needed more, so we talked a bit and I got the idea to break up the conversation with scenes of what happened. I wrote that, and she looked it over and edited it for me.
> 
> This owes a lot to her. Remaining flaws, of course, are still mine, though.

* * *

“This is so familiar I should just laugh and get it out of my system before you start in on the death glare,” Dick said, opening his apartment door to let Bruce in. The other man was already making a concession by not breaking in, so Dick could meet him halfway and let him in. He stepped back, gesturing to the couch. “Feel free.”

Bruce nodded stiffly, but didn't take the couch. He just shut the door behind him. “Why don't we start with the rundown?”

“Seriously? The last time we went over a case together was before I left for the academy, and that didn't go very well for _either_ of us,” Dick reminded him, going over to the recliner and sitting down. He leaned back and closed his eyes. He was doing better, but his wounds were still healing.

Bruce was silent for a moment before he spoke again. “So... Maroni's dead.”

“Yes.” Dick had seen that for himself when he and Jason found the body. As much as he didn't need another image like that in his head, at least he could be sure that Maroni's disappearing act was permanent this time. The monster wouldn't be coming back—not that it would make the nightmares stop. Those never did.

“And you have justice for your parents.”

“Maybe,” Dick said. He wanted to believe it ended with Maroni, but he wasn't sure. “I still don't remember what happened the night they died, and Babs didn't have enough evidence to prove it was Maroni, just to prove it wasn't me.”

“Most of the Maroni family has been arrested, including Sinisi, which leaves a power void,” Bruce went on, “there's going to be a war for control and plenty of chaos, but with Jim back as commissioner, that'll be under control soon enough.”

* * *

“You haven't been the commissioner for years, Gordon. I _am,_ and you have no right to give me orders.”

“Listen to me,” Jim said, leaning forward in his chair. “You've got more crooked cops than you have red tape in this town. Not only that, but you have your first real chance to take down the Maroni crime family and you're about to throw it away out of your own stupidity. One of your men is in there, and he has enough on the family to make sure they stay away for life. This ends tonight. Get whoever you need to, whoever can be trusted, and you get them in there to make the arrest and get your man out of there. If you don't, I will.”

Barbara put her hand on her father's shoulder, smiling down at him. She hadn't known how much she'd wanted this until right now, but now she did. She knew how much this meant to her father—how much it meant to her _and_ the city of Gotham. Her father had been a source of hope, and when he'd been shot and forced out of his role as commissioner, the city had lost a lot more than a good cop.

Now, though, he was back, and she could not be more proud.

“You're sure you have enough on Sinisi for that?” Commissioner Dell asked. “He's cagey, and he managed to get control of the family over any of Maroni's sons and closer relatives.”

“We're sure,” Barbara said. “I was able to tie Willis Todd to three of the murders. He and Zucco must have taken turns watching over the kids they were training to kill. Todd has become one of Sinisi's top lieutenants, but we know he gave his own son to this 'program' of theirs. He'll talk.”

Dell shook his head. “You don't know that. You don't have him in custody yet.”

“We know,” her father said. “As long as Todd is taken alive, he'll talk. He doesn't have any other option. His son will come after him. We all know what he is capable of and that he won't stop hunting his father, not after this. Willis tried to make Jason a monster. Jason will use that against him. Willis is only safe in protective custody, and he knows it.”

The current commissioner folded his hands together. “And if that's true, how can you be sure we won't lose Willis Todd before any of the trials?”

“We have a secret weapon,” Barbara said with a thin smile, hoping that Dick would be able to keep his friend in line. She turned to her father and the smile became real. “A couple of them, actually.”

* * *

Of all that had happened in this mess, Dick figured getting Jim Gordon back as police commissioner was the best part of it. He didn't feel much satisfaction in knowing that Maroni was dead. Even putting most of the Maroni crime family behind bars wasn't that fulfilling. Knowing that Gordon was back on the force and back where he should be meant that they wouldn't get free, and that mattered.

“So now, the department will get a much needed overhaul,” Dick said, shrugging. He knew he'd weather the storm, even with his unorthodox methods, and even if he didn't and for some unlikely reason Gordon kicked him off the force, he could manage as a private investigator again. “There'll be good people on the force again, and the public will be able to trust the police.”

“They always could when you were there.”

“Cute. Not true, but cute.”

“Dick—”

“The overseas part—Ra's al Ghul—he got away,” Dick said, unwilling to get into anything with Bruce now. He didn't want to fight. He wasn't sure he ever had, but with him and Bruce, it was hard not to fight. “There's no evidence he even exists. He's just a rumor. No one can prove any kind of connection between him and the mob, even with me, Jason, and Damian all knowing he was there. Or so I was told.”

“Prosecuting international crime is difficult, and in this case, most of the illegal activities were done by the mob or agents of it, not by al Ghul or his associates. They supervised the operation but kept their hands clean. Makes it hard to prove and easy for them to slip away.”

* * *

“Programming or skill?”

“Don't know. Don't even want to think about it,” Dick admitted, leaning back against the wall. “I shouldn't say this, but nice shot.”

Jason grinned, showing his teeth. “Not bad, right? Didn't even kill him. Probably should have, considering the way these jerks keep messing up our lives, but he should live. If someone gets him to the hospital in time. That ain't gonna be me, though.”

“Me, either,” Dick agreed. They were both going to be lucky to get out of here alive. They had gone past way too many members of the Maroni family on their way in for Dick to think they had much of a chance of surviving.

“You seen my dad? I lost him when he started cowering. I was too busy trying not to get killed by the ones that were actually fighting.”

“No, I lost him trying not to get killed by al Ghul,” Dick muttered, still feeling that one. He didn't know that he could have taken on al Ghul when he wasn't already injured, but he definitely wasn't a match for the man today. “Not even sure how I lost him—he probably should have killed me.”

“If your acrobatics didn't. I didn't think you could do that—and I know you shouldn't have. You almost broke yourself there.”

“Force of habit. Their programming is one thing, but muscle memory almost has it beat.”

“Yeah, well, with that kind of muscle memory, I'm not so sure they should be calling you a failure,” Jason said. He fired around the corner, ducking back when a bunch of shots came in their direction. “All right. You're supposed to be our leader—we're all programmed to listen to you—so you find us a way out of this.”

“That is not why I was made your—”

“Grayson! This way!”

“Was that who I thought it was?” Jason asked. “Tell me you're not going to listen to that brat.”

Admittedly, Dick didn't know that he wanted to, not after all of this, not after Damian's father had tried to kill him and _had_ killed Maroni. He did not like the idea of ending up like his former abuser, but then Damian deserved a better father than that, a better life, and if he was going to have any of that, it had to start with someone trusting him. “The brat does owe me a life debt.”

“And his father tried to kill you not that long ago,” Jason hissed, reloading his gun. His expression said that was his last magazine, and if it was, they didn't have much time. “You can't trust him.”

Dick let out a breath, trying to remember how many shots _he'd_ fired. Too many. He was just as low on ammo as Jason was, if not more. “You got a better idea?”

“No.”

“Then let's go.”

* * *

“So that's it, then,” Dick said with a shrug. He had to give Damian credit for his knowledge of the Maroni family's holdings. His path had gotten Dick and Jason out of the building alive just as Gordon ordered the cops to take the building. “The mob loses a few people. Their friends abandon them. Kids should be safe from any further attempts to create assassins by brainwashing—their methods weren't that good in the first place—I'm proof of that and I still don't buy that the others have a weakness to my suggestions.”

“It's unlikely,” Bruce agreed, “but not impossible.”

Dick frowned. “Are you _wanting_ me to be able to influence them? What, so I can make everyone hug and use that to take over the world?”

“Not the use I'd think would be best for it.”

“I'm not going to lead an army or force Jason to do what you want,” Dick told him. “With the people who'd be after Jason are in jail, he can stop looking over his shoulder all the time. I'm hoping with Gordon back in charge we can resolve that case for good—it _was_ self-defense—and he can stop hiding.” 

Bruce nodded. “And maybe get some therapy.”

“That mean you're going back to AA?”

“What about the other boy?”

“Tim is safe with Kowlinski in jail. He's back home. You already knew that, though.”

Bruce smiled thinly. “I meant Damian.”

“As messed up as it is, it sounds like they're treating Damian like a failed project and have abandoned him, too,” Dick said, shaking his head. “I'm still working on that, but I have a temporary solution in place.”

* * *

“Are you sure about this, Master Richard?”

Dick leaned back against the wall, trying to smack Alfred's hands away. Barbara folded her arms over her chest, watching them with both amusement and frustration. She should still be mad at Dick, and a part of her was, but a part of her was glad he was alive and that the case had resolved itself the way it had. She would rather have gotten Maroni alive, but they had Willis Todd and Sinisi and her father was back as commissioner.

All of that was because of Dick in a way, and she almost had to forgive him. Besides, it was still funny to see him try and avoid being fussed over by Alfred.

“You know I'm not in any state to take care of a kid,” Dick said. “I'm not like Bruce. I won't deny that I have flaws and issues to work out, and it is not right to put Damian through that. I've been on the other side of things, and I can't do it. It's wrong.”

“Yes, all fine reasons for the choice you made, but it is you who holds his life debt. Not me. I do not think the child cares for me at all.”

“I _am_ keeping a close eye on him,” Dick said. “I see him every day and I think things are getting better. He's no longer threatening to kill me if I hug him.”

“That is far from amusing, Master Richard.”

Dick smiled, and Barbara rolled her eyes. She did find Dick's interaction with Damian funny sometimes, but it was often as heartbreaking as it was humorous, and she was worried about both of them. If Dick _had_ chosen to take the boy in, she would have had to stop him. He was too much of a mess to care for a kid full time, but at least he knew it.

“It's temporary, Alfred. I know you can help him—you helped me. And Jason. And Tim. And more kids than I can name, plus a lot of adults, too. I am trusting you with this because I know you can do it,” Dick told him. He put a hand on Alfred's shoulder. “You have always been like a father to me, and there is no one else I'd ask to do this. Well, maybe Jim Gordon, but with Damian's history, I think that's a bad idea.”

“It is,” Barbara agreed, knowing her father too well for that. “Speaking of bad ideas, wasn't Tim supposed to be here today?”

“Oh, no,” Dick said, pushing past Alfred. “Damian's gonna kill him.”

Alfred frowned, turning back to Barbara. “I have this terrible feeling that is far from a joke.”

She tried to give him a reassuring smile, but it didn't work. “It's not a joke.”

* * *

“So my off-hours are spent trying to keep Damian from killing things,” Dick said, letting out a breath. He didn't get much sleep now for a whole different set of reasons, most of them having to do with troubled psuedo-assassins. If it wasn't Damian, it was Jason. Or Dick himself. “And that wraps up just about everything.”

“Except you and Barbara.”

Dick grimaced. “Yeah, well, I'm still trying to convince her that 'us' is a good idea, but we'll see what happens.”

* * *

“Babs?”

She didn't look up from her microscope. She had a job to do, and now that her father was cleaning up the department, there were more cops around that were worth processing evidence for, and whatever Dick wanted would have to wait, especially if it didn't involve a case. “I thought you were busy with Damian tonight.”

“I would have been if your father hadn't called me in,” Dick said, shaking off water onto her floor again. “Why is it I always get the ones in the rain?”

“And here I thought water ran off your back like it does off a duck,” she said, giving him a slight smile. “Maybe we should call you a drowned rat instead. You're a mess again. And Dad should know better than to have you out there working already.”

“The department's shorthanded,” Dick reminded her. “Too many dirty cops, not enough clean ones. I'm one of a very small few, remember?”

She hadn't forgotten. She couldn't. She just focused on her own work instead, going to the computer to compare her results to already compiled data.

He leaned against the counter. “Besides, if I wasn't working, I'd never see you. You've been using work as an excuse to avoid me since we saw Alfred.”

“That is because you keep trying to discuss something that should not be discussed.”

“I get it,” he said, covering her hand over the mouse, “you're mad about the kiss. You think I didn't mean it. I agree it was a low thing to do, using it as a distraction like that, but Babs, I wanted to kiss you from the first time I walked into this lab. I didn't, but I thought about it a lot. I figured my chances weren't great with you seeing me like a younger brother, so hell, kissing you as a distraction might have been my only shot.”

She pulled her hand out from his. “You're not helping your case.”

“It does take _two_ people to kiss. Maybe more, but at least two, and you were there, too,” Dick said. “You could have stopped it. You could have pushed me away. You didn't.”

“Dick—”

He caught her against the desk, kissing her. She tried not to react. They couldn't do this. She had work to do. He was younger than her. He had too much going on his life. He wasn't in a good place for a relationship. She didn't want one right now, either. They were better off as friends and coworkers. They couldn't blur that line.

“I want you, Babs,” he told her when he pulled back. “I know things are a mess, but they've always been a mess for me, and I don't see that changing. I've learned to hold onto what good I find because there's been a lot of bad in my life. You're part of that good, and I don't want to let that go.”

“We can be friends. You won't lose me that way.”

“Are you scared, Batgirl?”

“I thought you weren't going to call me that.”

“I'm just trying to figure out who's really telling me we can't even try—the Batgirl that keeps everyone at a distance, Dr. Gordon who is too smart and too focused on work for relationships, or Babs, my best friend who is afraid of wrecking our friendship if we go for more,” he said, touching her cheek. “I did almost get myself killed a couple times. There's still pieces I don't remember. Still, if this is any indication of how my life is going, then I think I'd like to take the chance now while I have it.”

“Because you're afraid you won't get another?”

“My parents' lives ended so fast. Mine was never the same. My aunt's death was an accident. And again my life changed. I adapt. I roll with the punches. I take risks. I take chances. I want to take this one with you,” he said, and then he let out a breath. “I'm not going to force you to say yes, but I want you to think about it. Please?”

She didn't know what was worse—his charm or those puppy dog eyes of his. She sighed. “Fine. I'll think about it.”

“That's all I can ask,” he said, reaching into his jacket pocket. “Now, tell me about this little trinket I found.”

She took the evidence bag from him. “Even if we were dating, that wouldn't get you special privileges in my lab, Detective Grayson.”

“That's okay. I'll earn them with sex when you finally say yes.”

She couldn't help it. She laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> And now that I do have it done, I actually found myself wondering if there was a good (but shorter) case I could do as a follow up or if I should just call the series complete and start another one if I do get a new case fic idea.
> 
> I think I'd try and write more of that before I posted it, unlike this time. Lessons learned, I guess.


End file.
